POSTPONED. A Night With the Spirits

This event will be rescheduled for later in the year. In the meantime, those with tickets will be issued with a refund.

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Two eloquent scholar-practitioners treat us to  talks covering two distinct traditions of working with spirits. 

Turbulent Spirits: Devils and the Dead in Early Modern Necromancy Dr Alexander Cummins takes us back in time to the early modern period, to relate some particularly vivid cases of demonology and necromancy, and how they became interwoven in the folk imagination. Get ready to meet folkloric devils,  grimoire demons, and spirits who disguise themselves as the dearly departed dead.

 Hallowed Bones, Restless Dead: Saint Necromancy in Iberia and the New World In this talk, Jesse Hathaway Diaz looks at necromancy embedded within saint veneration and sorcery. Focussing on Spanish culture (including in the Americas) he talks about how people (and not just heretics) masque spirits in Catholic attire, force saints into relics, and even steal the intercessory power of the Blessed Dead. You'll never see Catholicism the same way again.  

   Dr Alexander Cummins received his doctorate in History at University of Bristol, focussing on early modern magical practices. He now lives in New York and teaches independently online, as well as running an independent practice. 

Jesse Hathaway Diaz is a folklorist, artist, and performer living in New York City. He is an initiated priest in the Lucumí Orisha tradition, a Quimbandeiro and a traditional witch. 

Timings.  Each lasts 40 minutes, with a ten minute interval between them. Cummins and Diaz are in the UK on a short visit and we are honoured to host them. A chance to meet them follows, at the customary drinks soiree.